Stop Jaywalking!

I attended a conference in Baltimore about 10 years ago. After checking in at my hotel (located in the harbor area) I decided to take a walk around. Approaching the first crosswalk, I glanced up the street for approaching traffic. Seeing it was clear, I started across. After a few steps I heard a loud whistle and a plea to “Stop Sir.” I turned toward the whistle and realized it was being sounded by a police officer about 100 feet away who wanted me stop because the crosswalk sign, which I hadn’t bothered to check, was telling me not to cross. I returned to the sidewalk and noticed about 20 others waiting for the crosswalk signal to tell them it was OK to cross the street even though there was no approaching traffic. As I continued my walk around the area, I noticed almost everyone was crossing only in designated areas and when the signal said it was OK.

That night I had dinner with a friend who had moved from Meriden to Baltimore several years before. He explained that Baltimore was “civilized” and that only people in the Northeast crossed streets where and when they pleased.

I returned with a new perspective. I noticed how many times pedestrians suddenly crossed in front of my car. I realized just how rude and potentially dangerous it is and vowed to follow crossing signals when I walked.

Last week we ran a story on jaywalking. Over the past 10 years, jaywalking has developed into one of my top pet peeves.
I spend much of my time driving the streets of Meriden and Wallingford and wanted to mention a few of the most dangerous areas.

Wallingford
- Anywhere near the intersection of North Main, South Main and Center streets. The closest calls I’ve had have been at night involving people parking off the eastbound lane of Center Street and crossing to the very popular Michael’s Trattoria restaurant.
- North Main, near the library, is also a hot spot for jaywalking.
- The section of South Colony Road (Route 5) closest to Center Street has also become more of a problem. It starts at the Food Bag and continues up to Center Street. The area around CVS is also a problem.
- A lot of people complain to me about jaywalking by Choate students, I haven’t noticed it. I find that when I’m driving through the campus, the students are pretty faithful about staying in the crosswalks and looking before crossing.
Meriden
- Pedestrians frequently cross near the intersection of State and East Main streets without even looking up for oncoming vehicles. The crosswalk signal there is virtually ignored. Regardless of whether I have a green light or not, I slow at the intersection because you never know when someone will cross.

Let me know what you think.